A lot has changed in the world since the firm’s inception in 1969 and a lot has changed at Avery Cooper.

Always a public practice accounting firm, the firm has seen a number of changes in ownership and name.  Originally Nind & Co., a Certified General Accountant (CGA) with one student accountant and one secretary, the firm is now a partnership of three CGAs working with a staff of up to thirty professionals, consultants, students and administrative specialists.

Originally located in one office in the Laurentian Building, and then in the bottom floor of the Bowling Green building for several years, the firm moved back to the Laurentian Building in 1992 and now occupies the entire three-storey building.

Even the way we do business has changed. Hand-written paper ledgers and one-write systems have been replaced by accounting software programs; typewriters have been replaced by computers and high-speed printers; snail mail was partially replaced by the advent of faxes and then further reduced by the introduction of e-mail; boxes of financial records and binders were replaced first by floppy disks and ultimately by digital storage and memory sticks/keys or jump drives.

We were flying to communities in 1969, usually in small aircraft, and often stayed in shabby shared rooms with the shower and honey bucket down the hall.  We often had to carry our own food, sleeping bags, survival kits and survival suits.  Over the years, members of our staff have driven up and down ice roads, ridden in komatiks behind snowmobiles and in jet boats up the Mackenzie River.

Today, we are often able to fly at least part of the way in a jet and many communities now offer world-class accommodations and dining.  Although we still travel throughout the north to provide audits and training to our clients, we are now able to do more and more work right from our Yellowknife office using remote technology.

The firm had to change to keep up with the world but much remains the same:   We still feel lucky to live and work in this country’s last frontier; we still have the best clients and the best staff.  Many of our team members have been with us for ten, twenty or thirty-plus years.  Confidentiality, timeliness, and quality of service remain the cornerstones of our business.

Contact us to discuss how we can meet your needs for advice and assistance with accounting, audit, review, tax, financial and management consulting and accounting software.

The firm is proud to support the Yellowknife Community Foundation.   Avery Cooper has been dedicated to the Foundation since its inception in 1993 when Gerry Avery was a founding Board Member and the first President.  The firm donates office space, administration, bookkeeping and other professional services to the Foundation and the Board has a standing offer for use of our boardrooms, be it for meetings or envelope-stuffing parties.  

Many members of our team hold volunteer board positions with non-profit organizations; many volunteer time to their local professional association marking assignments or co-ordinating conferences; many volunteer their spare time to our young athletes and may have coached your children in hockey or squash or volleyball. 

We support each others’ causes by buying raffle tickets and daffodils, chocolate-covered almonds and frozen pies and we pledge our teammates and their families and friends for a variety of walk or run-a-thons. 

We believe in our community and we believe we can help make it better for everyone.